1963 American Football League Championship Game

The 1963 AFL Championship Game was the fourth American Football League (AFL) title game. The Western Division champion San Diego Chargers won 51–10 over the Eastern Division champion Boston Patriots. The Chargers' Keith Lincoln was named the game's most valuable player (MVP).

1963 AFL Championship Game

Boston Patriots (Eastern) (7–6–1) San Diego Chargers (Western) (11–3) 10 51 Head coach: Mike Holovak Head coach: Sid Gillman
1 2 3 4 Total BOS 7 3 0 0 10 SD 21 10 7 13 51
Date	January 5, 1964
Stadium	Balboa Stadium San Diego, California
MVP	Keith Lincoln, running back
Attendance	30,127 [1]
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman[2]
← 1962 AFL Championship Game 1964 →

At the end of the regular season, the Chargers (11–3) won the Western Division for the third time in the four-year existence of the AFL.^[3] In the Eastern Division, the Patriots and the Buffalo Bills had identical 7–6–1 records, which required a tiebreaker playoff game on December 28 in Buffalo.^[4][5]

Eastern Division playoff

See also: Bills–Patriots rivalry

In their final regular season games on Saturday, December 14, Boston lost and Buffalo won to draw even in the standings. Three-time division winner Houston (6–6) controlled their own destiny, but lost the next day and were eliminated. Buffalo and Boston had two weeks to prepare for the playoff, as their bye weeks were postponed from November 24 to December 22, due to the assassination of President Kennedy.

The game was played on Saturday, December 28, as the following day was the 1963 NFL Championship Game. On a slippery field at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo with an inch of snow, visiting Boston led 16–0 at halftime and won 26–8. Quarterback Babe Parilli threw a touchdown pass in each half to fullback Larry Garron and Gino Cappelletti made four field goals for the Patriots. The Bills' sole score was a 93-yard touchdown pass play in the third quarter with a two-point conversion, which cut the lead to eight points. The AFL would not need a playoff to determine a division winner until 1968.

^[4]

Boston Patriots 26, Buffalo Bills 8

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Patriots	10	6	0	10	26
Bills	0	0	8	0	8

at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York

• Date: December 28, 1963
• Game time: 1:05 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 20 °F (−7 °C), relative humidity 76%,
  wind 11 mph (18 km/h), wind chill 9 °F (−13 °C)
• Game attendance: 33,044^[4]
• TV: ABC

Game information

Scoring First quarter BOS – Field goal Gino Cappelletti 28, 3–0 BOS BOS – Larry Garron 59 pass from Babe Parilli (Cappeletti kick), 10–0 BOS Second quarter BOS – Field goal Cappelletti 12, 13–0 BOS BOS – Field goal Cappelletti 33, 16–0 BOS Third quarter BUF – Elbert Dubenion 93 pass from Daryle Lamonica (John Tracey pass from Lamonica), 16–8 BOS Fourth quarter BOS – Garron 17 pass from Parilli (Cappeletti kick), 23–8 BOS BOS – Field goal Cappelletti 36, 26–8 BOS

Surface: Natural grass

Championship Game

Idle during the week of Eastern Division playoff, well-rested San Diego was a touchdown favorite at home to win the AFL.^[6][3] Fullback Keith Lincoln performed tremendously and led the Chargers to a 51–10 rout of Boston.^[7][8] Named the game's MVP,^[9] he rushed for 206 yards on 13 carries, led the team with 123 yards in receiving, and completed a pass for 20 yards.^[10][11][12]

The game was not a sellout; the attendance of 30,127 was several thousand under Balboa Stadium's capacity.^[11]

The Chargers' championship win 62 years ago is noted for being the only major sports title for the city of San Diego, the longest drought for a major American city.^[13][14] The Chargers played in San Diego through 2016, then returned to Los Angeles in 2017. The Patriots' first league championship came in the 2001 season in Super Bowl XXXVI.

San Diego Chargers 51, Boston Patriots 10

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Patriots	7	3	0	0	10
Chargers	21	10	7	13	51

at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California

• Date: January 5, 1964
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), relative humidity 26%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
• Game attendance: 30,127 ^[1]
• TV announcers (ABC): Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman^[2]

Game information

Scoring First quarter SD – Tobin Rote 2 run (George Blair kick), 7–0 SD SD – Keith Lincoln 67 run (Blair kick), 14–0 SD BOS – Larry Garron 7 run (Gino Cappelletti kick), 14–7 SD SD – Paul Lowe 58 run (Blair kick), 21–7 SD Second quarter SD – Field goal Blair 11, 24–7 SD BOS – Field goal Cappelletti 15, 24–10 SD SD – Don Norton 14 pass from Rote (Blair kick), 31–10 SD Third quarter SD – Lance Alworth 48 pass from Rote (Blair kick), 38–10 SD Fourth quarter SD – Lincoln 25 pass from John Hadl (pass failed), 44–10 SD SD – Hadl 1 run (Blair kick), 51–10 SD

Starting lineups

Hall of Fame inductee

Boston	Position	San Diego
Offense
Babe Parilli	QB	Tobin Rote
Ron Burton	HB	Paul Lowe
Larry Garron	FB	Keith Lincoln
Jim Colclough	FL	Lance Alworth
Gino Cappelletti	SE	Don Norton
Tony Romeo	TE	Dave Kocourek
Don Oakes	LT	Ernie Wright
Charley Long	LG	Sam DeLuca
Walt Cudzik	C	Don Rogers
Billy Neighbors	RG	Pat Shea
Milt Graham	RT	Ron Mix
Defense
Larry Eisenhauer	LDE	Earl Faison
Jess Richardson	LDT	Henry Schmidt
Houston Antwine	RDT	George Gross
Bob Dee	RDE	Bob Petrich
Tom Addison	LLB	Emil Karas
Nick Buoniconti	MLB	Chuck Allen
Jack Rudolph	RLB	Paul Maguire
Dick Felt	LCB	Bud Whitehead
Bob Suci	RCB	Dick Harris
Ross O'Hanley	SS	George Blair
Ron Hall	FS	Gary Glick

Players' shares

The attendance in San Diego was nearly 8,000 lower than the previous year's game in Houston, but the players' shares were up slightly with increased television revenue. The winning Chargers players each made around $2,500, while the Patriots received about $1,700 each.^[12] These shares were less than half of those for the NFL title game in 1963, at approximately $6,000 and $4,200 each.^[15]

See also

• 1963 AFL season
• AFL Championship Games
• 1963 NFL Championship Game